The Queen Is Dead
"The Queen Is Dead" is the fifteenth episode of Season Two of ABC's Once Upon a Time. It was written by Daniel T. Thomsen & David H. Goodman and directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton. It is the thirty-seventh episode of the series overall and premiered on March 3, 2013. Synopsis Upon discovering Cora and Regina's plan to find and take possession of Rumplestiltskin's dagger, Mary Margaret, with the aid of David and Mother Superior, makes it her mission to find it first; and while Mr. Gold continues his quest in New York to reunite with son Bae, Hook devises a plan to rid himself of a crocodile. Meanwhile, in the fairytale land that was, the Blue Fairy offers Snow White an unconventional enchantment that could help save her dying mother, Queen Eva.http://www.thefutoncritic.com/listings/20130214abc05/ Recap Long ago, back in the Enchanted Forest, Queen Eva lived in a palace with her daughter Snow White. The Queen prepares Snow White for a ball in honor of her birthday. She guides her daughter to her tiara that once belonged to her mother. When they find the tiara it is on the head of one of their servants, Johanna. She apologizes for wearing the tiara and puts it back into its box. Snow White is clearly angered and yells at Johanna for doing such a thing when she is only a servant. Eva scolds Snow White for doing this to Johanna, and tells her that being royal does not make them better than anyone else. A little while later, Eva asks Snow White why the ball is being held. When asked, Snow White says it is being held in honor of her birthday. Eva does not agree and tells her it is being held to honor her subjects. After this lecture, Eva takes the tiara and places it on Snow White's head, before coughing uncontrollably. Snow White comforts her sick mother as she lays down, meanwhile Johanna leaves to find the royal doctor. In Storybrooke, it is Mary Margaret's birthday as well. David is making her pancakes because he thinks she might enjoy her birthday more in this world. When she turns she notices a present and tries to tell David not to get her a birthday present. He is adamant that he is not the one who sent it to her, but Mary Margaret tells him he is the only one who knows. When she continues to confront him he tells her that someone else must know it is her birthday because it was left outside her apartment. Mary Margaret reluctantly opens the present to find the tiara given to her by her mother years ago. The couple looks on in amazement, realizing that the tiara was not lost in the curse like they had thought. Upon opening the card that came along with the tiara, she finds out Johanna was the one who sent it to her, revealing that Johanna was sent to Storybrooke as well. In a rush, Mary Margaret leaves to find Johanna. David is later seen walking through the Storybrooke Sheriff Department. When he turns his head a disgruntled Hook knocks him unconscious with a metal pipe. Then he pries open a drawer with a pair of keys to retrieve his hook. He removes his prosthetic hand, and reattaches his hook, before departing for New York City. Mary Margaret finds Johanna working in her backyard garden. They immediately embrace, and Johanna shows Snow White the snow drop flowers she is planting. They remind Johanna of Snow White because they can survive the harshest winter, and she was born during the harshest one of all. After reminiscing about Eva, they hear a noise coming from the woods. Mary Margaret decides to find out what caused it. She hears Cora and Regina Mills, who are digging up Rumplestiltskin's dagger. Using a map, the pair have found the supposed location of his dagger. Mary Margaret is shocked when she hears of their plans to force the Dark One to kill whoever they want by controlling him with his dagger. Mary Margaret comes to the Storybrooke Sheriff Department to tell David, but she finds him lying on the floor. When he wakes up, he tells her about Hook attacking him, and sees that his hook is missing. Mary Margaret tells him the more urgent news of Regina working with Cora to find Mr. Gold's Dagger. They discuss her using it to make him do her bidding, or become the dark one herself. David picks up the phone to call Mr. Gold himself, but Mary Margaret stops him telling him that he will not answer. She hatches up a plan to put some doubt in Regina regarding Cora. In New York City, Neal and Henry walk around, and stop at Neal's favorite pizza place while Emma Swan and Mr. Gold wait outside. After some small talk, Mr. Gold tries to get Emma to convince Neal to come back to Storybrooke. Emma tells him that she only owed him one favor and she has fulfilled it. He strikes fear in Emma by telling her that if Neal does not come to Storybrooke, Henry will hop on a bus to go back to New York. When Emma tells Mr. Gold that she lied to protect Henry, he compares her to Regina. When Neal and Henry come back out, he asks if they can go back to the apartment to get his camera to take pictures at a museum Neal knows of. She asks him if he likes his pizza and he says it is "delicious, cheesy and doesn't lie". At Granny's Diner, Regina arrives and sits in a booth across from Mary Margaret. She asks Mary Margaret if Henry is okay, who tells her everything is fine with Henry. Mary Margaret soon admits that she did not talk to Henry, and it was just a front to talk with Regina. Revealing that she knows all about Regina's plans to find the dagger and control Mr. Gold, Regina affirms it is none of her business. Because Mary Margaret feels Regina has earned a second chance, she asks Regina to choose the right side. Regina tells her that maybe she is good, and that she was always the queen, but Snow White added evil to her title. A curious Mary Margaret asks her why she would revert to her old ways after trying so hard, and Regina says it only got her a dinner with a bunch of hypocrites that never believed she could change. Before leaving the diner, Regina tells Mary Margaret that she is giving her a chance to stay out of her way. They talk a little while longer after Mary Margaret tells her that Cora does not care about Henry, or Regina, for that matter and this is all about her and power. Regina asks Mary Margaret what she knows about mothers. The royal doctor tends to Eva back in the Enchanted Forest. Snow White asks him if he knows what is wrong with her, but he does not. After he has treated Eva he walks over to Johanna and tells her that King Leopold must come immediately. Snow tells her mother that they can cancel the ball and have the celebration once she gets better. Her mother tells her that it will be fine, and that they can have the ball without her. Eva begins coughing again, and Johanna rushes Snow White out of the room so that the royal doctor can tend to her. As Johanna and Snow White walk through the palace, Snow White asks her if her mom will survive. Johanna embraces a crying Snow White, telling her that magic may be able to cure Eva. She tells Snow White that her mother has a friend that few know about; a benevolent fairy that can grant a wish as long as your heart is true. Believing her heart is true, Snow White further questions Johanna. She tells Snow White to go into the woods and wish on the blue star. Emma and Neal are walking the streets of New York, when Emma tells him that they must go back to their home. She also tells him that he should come with them, because it does not look like has much going on in New York. He begins to tell Emma something important, but he is interrupted by Henry who wants to take the subway. Neal agrees and they leave to get Henry's camera. When the group returns to Neal's apartment, he and Henry go back up to his apartment to get the camera while Mr. Gold and Emma wait for them in the lobby. Mr. Gold asks Emma about Neal coming with them to Storybrooke, and Emma responds that he might need some time. Before they can finish their conversation, Hook runs into the lobby and stabs Mr. Gold in the chest with his hook. He tells him that for taking Milah from him, now he takes his life. Before he can further his act of revenge, Emma grabs a garbage can and smashes it over Hook's head, knocking him unconscious. Neal hears the commotion and runs down from his apartment. He sees Hook and notices the blood pouring from his father's chest. They take Mr. Gold up to Neal's apartment and mention locking Hook in the storage room. After finding his map they realize that he sailed his ship to New York, because it is magically cloaked. When Henry walks up to him, he asks him if he is alright. Mr. Gold pushes Henry away from him, blaming him for bringing them to New York. Emma then sends Henry into another room to find a charger. Neal and Emma notice blood oozing from Mr. Gold's chest as well as something else he says is poison. The only way to save Mr. Gold is to go back to Storybrooke as soon as possible, realizing the fastest way there is via Hook's ship, they need someone to captain it. Neal agrees to captain it, to Mr. Gold and Emma's surprise. David and Mary Margaret meet Mother Superior to ask her for help. She agrees with them, noticing that dark magic has been expelled. David informs her of Regina and Cora's plans to find Mr. Gold's dagger, and Mary Margaret asks her if her magic can find it first. In the woods near the palace, Snow White has trouble telling which star is the blue star Johanna told her about. The Blue Fairy appears anyway and tells her that she can sense that her mother is sick. Snow White asks her to use her magic to help her survive the illness. Although it goes against everything she stands for as a fairy, the blue fairy gives Snow White a magical candle that can save her mother, but kill someone else. A conflicted Snow White holds the candle in her hand, torn between her mother wanting her to do the right thing, and saving her mother's life. Neal texts someone to get a car so that they have a way to get Mr. Gold to the ship. Emma asks Neal how he knows Hook, and he reveals to her that this land was not the first world he stopped in on his way to this one. He also tells her that if it was he would be a couple hundred years old. Henry walks in, and shows Emma a text from David and Mary Margaret. Emma tells Mr. Gold the bad news of Cora and Regina searching for his dagger. She asks him the location of his dagger, so David and Mary Margaret can find it first. Mr. Gold is wary to tell her the location, but Emma assures him that he can trust them because they are family. Outside of Mr. Gold's shop, Mother Superior uses her wand to try enter it, and get his dagger. It burns her hand, causing her to drop it. Mother Superior tells David and Mary Margaret that he cast a protection spell over his shop. Mary Margaret asks Mother Superior if she can use dark magic, since it is the only way to stop Cora from getting the dagger. Mary Margaret recalls the time that the Blue Fairy gave her the candle in the woods, but Mother Superior doesn't remember this. A few seconds later, David gets a call from Emma and she tells him where the dagger is. Snow White runs through the halls of the palace to get her mother. When she reaches her she apologizes for not taking the Blue Fairy's magical candle. Eva tells her that she is proud of her for remaining strong and doing the right thing. She further tells Snow White that she has reached a point where she is not meant to get better, and that Snow White will make a great queen. After telling Snow White this, Snow White asks her to never leave her, and Eva promises that as long as she holds goodness in her heart she will never leave her. At this, Eva dies leaving Johanna to comfort Snow White. In the Storybrooke Clock Tower, Mary Margaret and David now know where Mr. Gold has hidden his dagger. David finds it on one of the hands on the clock. Just as it seems they have won against Cora, she and Regina appear to take the dagger from her. Mary Margaret tells Regina that she should have chosen good because it has won. Cora then summons Johanna to the clock tower, and tells Mary Margaret that it is not good or evil that wins, but instead power. Regina then reaches into Johanna's chest, removing her heart. Back in the Enchanted Forest, Johanna takes Eva's tiara and prepares to put it on Snow White's head. Snow White and Johanna wear all black to show their mourning of Eva. Johanna tells Snow White that her kingdom needs her, especially now, and Snow White accepts the tiara. Snow White is seen walking toward her mother's dead body, which is laid out on a bier. The the kingdom stands in the palace mourning the loss of their queen. Snow White whispers "I miss you, so much" to her mother's body and places a flower on her body. When Snow White sits before her mother, everyone in attendance does the same. Time passes, but Snow White stays transfixed, until Johanna approaches her, and tells her that it is over. As the two walk out of the palace, what looks to be the Blue Fairy flies towards Eva's corpse. Upon approaching Eva she transforms into Cora, noting that she cannot believe how that fairy stands her outfit. She walks up to Eva, and tells her that poison looks good on her. Cora takes the flower off Eva's body, and sniffs it. Standing over her corpse, she tell her that she raised Snow White well, that her daughter does not love her the same way. But she also says that although Snow White would have made a great ruler, Regina will, and all Snow White will be left with is knowing how it feels to be the miller's daughter. After this, she tells Eva that the candle will not be Snow White's first test, she will turn her soul black, and destroy Eva's legacy. Her fingers touch her lips, and then Cora places them on Eva's. Cora, in the clock tower tries to get the dagger from Mary Margaret. David pulls out a gun and Regina warns her, and she magically flings it out of his hands. Regina continues to crush Johanna's heart in her hands, and Cora tells Mary Margaret that she will follow her mother's example. Mary Margaret then realizes that it was not the Blue Fairy who gave her the candle, but Cora. Not only that, but Mary Margaret also learns that her mother was not sick, but was killed by Cora. After learning this Mary Margaret asks her why, and Cora says so that her daughter could be queen. This surprises Regina, but she continually squeezes Johanna's heart. Amidst this a screaming Johanna tells Mary Margaret not to give up the dagger. Cora asks for the dagger a final time, asking Mary Margaret if she wants to lose someone else. Mary Margaret agrees, dropping the dagger on the ground. It flies up at Cora, who catches it with ease. Regina then reinserts the heart of Johanna. As Johanna walks toward Mary Margaret, Johanna is magically flung out of the clock tower by Cora. Her dead body lays on the streets of Storybrooke, and Mary Margaret cries. Regina tells her that this is what good gets you, before vanishing with her mother in a cloud of smoke. Cora and Regina return to her home, with the dagger in tow. Regina tells her mother that it's good to be out of hiding, and back in her house. Cora notes that she likes what she's done with the place, but notices something wrong with Regina. When asked what's wrong, Regina tells Cora that she never told her about the history she shared with Snow's mother. Her mother tells her she spared her that burden, but Regina says she wish she knew what it took for her to become queen. She recalls the day her mother urged her to go have her riding lesson, and told her that she can spend more time with Rocinante and the stable boy. She also remembers when Snow's horse went wild, and how killing Eva left King Leopold without a queen. Regina grows suspicious of why her mother needs the dagger, if her being queen is what she wanted. Regina wonders how they will use it to get Henry back if David and Mary Margaret are aware that they have the dagger. Cora strokes the dagger, telling Regina that Emma, David and Mary Margaret will be nothing more than a memory when Mr. Gold is back. In New York, Neal and Emma walk swiftly through the streets, and she asks him about helping his dad. He tells her that he can't watch him die, because he's not a monster. When they find a car, Emma believes he is going to hotwire it, but he grabs the keys. He tells her it belongs to a friend, who coincidentally runs up to greet him. She reveals herself as Tamara to Emma, and Neal tells Emma that he is engaged to her. Mary Margaret places one of Johanna's flowers on her recently dug grave. David tells her that she did the best she could, but Mary Margaret ignores this. She looks up at Regina's family mausoleum, and says that it has been left untouched. David tries to reason with her, but she tells him that after holding onto goodness her whole life, it has only taken lives. He tells her that Cora wants her to lose faith in who she is as a person. Mary Margaret brings up the times her kindness has backfired, namely stopping Regina's execution, sending Emma through the Magic Wardrobe and letting her mother die. He keeps telling her that they have time to get the dagger back, but Mary Margaret says that instead of other people changing she must change. Although it goes against everything her mother would want, she announces that she is going to kill Cora. Cast Starring *Ginnifer Goodwin as Mary Margaret Blanchard *Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan *Lana Parrilla as Evil Queen/Regina Mills *Josh Dallas as David Nolan *Emilie de Ravin (Credit only) *Colin O'Donoghue as Hook *Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills *Meghan Ory (Credit only) *Robert Carlyle as Mr. Gold Guest Starring *Barbara Hershey as Cora *Bailee Madison as Young Snow White *Sonequa Martin-Green as Tamara *Lesley Nicol as Johanna/Johanna (Storybrooke) *Michael Raymond-James as Neal Cassidy *Rena Sofer as Eva *Keegan Connor Tracy as Blue Fairy/Mother Superior Co-Starring *Duncan Ollerenshaw as royal doctor Uncredited *Noah Bean as Daniel (Archive footage) *Unknown as King Leopold Trivia *The opening titlecard features the Storybrooke Clock Tower. References de:The Queen Is Dead it:The Queen is Dead fr:2x15 es:The Queen is Dead